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In a spectacular final, Team USA secured the first Figure Skating gold at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 with 69 points, edging Japan by just one point. Italy, finishing on 60 points, took an emotional bronze in front of an enthusiastic home crowd at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

In the end, it all came down to the Men’s Free Skating, and the suspense lasted until the last skater. Japan had overtaken the USA after the Women’s and Pairs Free Skating on a tie-breaker and Italy was only two points ahead of Georgia in the bronze medal position before the men took to the ice. 

Malinin seals the deal for the USA

When he stepped on the ice as the next-to-last skater, Ilia Malinin knew he had to deliver. And he did, nailing four quadruple jumps and two triple Axel. The crowd gasped when he stumbled on the second quad Lutz, but Malinin recovered instantly and continued as if nothing had happened. The two-time ISU World Champion picked up 200.03 points, ranked first in the segment and added 10 points to the team score. 

“Honestly I felt really proud of that attention, that pressure, because seeing that it was going to be a tie right now, and that deciding factor was going to be my skate or not, I really went out there," Malinin said. “I just decided 'OK, let the nerves down, you just really need to get into that zone and just let things happen.' I'm proud of myself and proud of my team for all the work they've put into this, and without each other, we wouldn't have gotten this gold medal."

Ilia Malinin's stunning performance led Team USA to gold on Sunday © Getty Images

Amber Glenn landed her triple Axel and came third in the Women’s Free Skating (138.62 points/8 team points). 

Ellie Kam & Danny O’Shea put out a personal best performance to “Sweet Dreams”, “Eleanor Rigby” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” to come fourth in the Pairs Free Skating (135.36 points/seven team points). 

 

Three-time ISU World Champions Madison Chock & Evan Bates and reigning ISU World Champion Alysa Liu competed in the Ice Dance and Women’s Short Program for the team. Chock & Bates were the only ones who were also part of the gold medal winning Figure Skating team at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing in 2022.

“It was an amazing event,” team captain Danny O’Shea commented. “I think that there was so much good skating over the past few days. I was more nervous watching Ilia than I was skating myself. I was so proud of him, so proud of everybody on our team. It really took every single point for us to do it today. 

 “The team event is something special because it really does bring together everyone to support each other and build each other up and find ways to get one more point here and there,” he continued. “I love that it was the closest team event ever, right? That's a really cool thing to be a part of. That just shows you how great figure skating is going and it's an awesome direction.”

Team Japan a strong second

Shun Sato was last to skate and flew high in his flawless “Firebird” routine that featured three quadruple jumps. He was not far behind Malinin in second place at 194.86 points, a new personal best score, and earned nine points for his team. 

“This time we were aiming for gold from the first day on,” team captain Masaya Morita said. “But it is not only the result that counts. When we look at the programs and performances, they were full of excellent moments. Not only gold or silver is valuable. It is especially important for us that we want to prove ourselves as a team for the next opportunity in four years. I hope we can keep this positive spirit in the future.” 

Shun Sato secured a silver medal for Japan on Sunday in Milan © Getty Images

"First of all, right after I finished skating, I was genuinely happy because I felt I had truly lived up to the team's support,” Sato shared. “But once the scores were announced, I felt quite sad that we couldn't win. I felt happy, but also disappointed."

Earlier, Kaori Sakamoto turned in a great performance to Edith Piaf songs, hitting five clean triples. She put Team Japan into the lead before the Men’s Free Skating (148.62 points/10 team points). 

Two-time ISU World Pairs Champions Riku Miura & Ryuichi Kihara won the Pairs Free Skating with a spectacular performance to “Gladiator” that was highlighted by triple jumps, throws and difficult lifts. They set a new personal best with 155.55 points and picked up 10 team points.

Team Japan pose for pictures after finishing 2nd in the Olympic Team Event © Getty Images

Yuma Kagiyama and Ice Dancers Utana Yoshida/Masaya Morita competed in the Men’s Short Program and Ice Dance events for the team. Sakamoto, Kagiyama and Miura & Kihara already got the silver from the Olympic Team Event from four years ago. 

Italy earns a historic bronze 

Matteo Rizzo was just stellar in his performance to the “Interstellar” soundtrack, hitting a quad toe and eight triple jumps. He sank onto his knees after his performance, knowing he had done enough to secure the bronze for Italy. Rizzo set a new season’s best of 179.62 points and earned eight team points.

“I think I couldn't skate better than this, I could not enjoy it more,” Rizzo said. “I enjoyed every second on the ice.

"I think I will realize this only in a couple of weeks. But for now, I keep just touching it [the medal] to feel that it's real. It's out of this world.”

 

It was Italy’s first medal in the Olympic Team Event and the third Olympic Figure Skating medal for Italy after Carolina Kostner (2014) and Barbara Fusar Poli & Maurizio Margaglio (2022) secured bronze medals. 

Performing to “Caruso”, Sara Conti & Niccolo Macii ranked third in the Pairs Free Skating with a strong performance that included a side-by-side triple Salchow and triple throws (136.61 points/eight team points). Lara Naki Gutmann placed fourth in the Free Skating (126.94 points/seven team points).

Italy secured their first medal in the Olympic Team Event © ISU

Ice Dancers Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri and Daniel Grassl contributed to the team’s success with their performances on the first two days. 

“For us it was really emotional,” team captain Sara Conti said. “It was a struggle until the last second. We only realized half way through that Matteo was going to get it. We are very proud of what we have achieved here at home in Italy.

“It is a historic medal and we will never ever forget it, for the whole team. What we really achieved was quite incredible. Maybe we had not realized it but we are probably the strongest Italian team that ever existed,” she concluded.

Georgia pulled up from fifth to fourth place at 56 points. 2026 ISU European Champions Anastasiia Metelkina & Luka Berulava and 2023 ISU European Champion Anastasiia Gubanova were the top scorers of their team by finishing second in the Pairs and Women’s Free Skating.

Canada slipped to fifth place at 54 points with top scorer Stephen Gogolev fourth in the Men’s Free Skating. 

France, the Republic of Korea, China, Great Britain and Poland did not reach the final Free Skating and ranked sixth to 10th. 

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